Posts Tagged ‘windows 7’
How to use XP Mode to Run Multiple Versions of Internet Explorer
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
This document contains step-by-step instructions for setting up multiple copies of Windows XP Mode on a Windows 7 PC in order to run Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 simultaneously with IE9 in Windows 7. Windows XP Mode is available on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.
These instructions assume a moderate degree of experience working with your PC and are provided “as-is” for developers comfortable performing its steps.
Installing Windows XP Mode
1. Configure your PC’s BIOS for Hardware-Assisted Virtualization (HAV) by following the instructions here. HAV is not required but XP Mode will run much better if hardware-assisted virtualization can be enabled.
2. Navigate to the Download Windows XP Mode page. Choose your Windows 7 edition and language and then download, save, and run Windows XP Mode setup. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, this can take up to an hour.
3. Return to the Download Windows XP Mode page, if needed choose your Windows 7 edition and language again, then download, save, and run Windows Virtual PC setup. You will need to restart your PC after this installation.
4. After restart, click the Windows 7 Start button, select All Programs > Windows Virtual PC > Windows XP Mode to begin first-time setup of the Windows XP Mode virtual machine. When first-time setup completes, you’ll find yourself in an XP Mode window with IE6 pre-installed.
5. Install an anti-virus program in the XP Mode virtual machine. Microsoft Security Essentials is free and works well with Windows XP Mode.
6. Install all the important and high priority updates except IE7 or IE8 using the Custom option of Window Update (this assumes you want this first virtual machine to stay with IE6). Since Windows Update will keep pushing either IE7 or IE8 on you, you should open each of these and choose “Don’t show this update again.”
7. Install any other software or utilities that you want available in the XP Mode virtual machine.
Once you’ve configured this first virtual machine, you can move onto copying it to create two more: one for IE7 and one for IE8. To do that, close all open applications then close your Windows XP Mode virtual machine. By default, the virtual machine will hibernate but that seems to be okay for the following steps.
Create a Second XP Mode Virtual Machine for IE7
Creating a second XP Mode virtual machine for IE7 is easier than setting up the first though the steps below are longer because they’re more complete. Briefly, all you need to do is copy the virtual hard disk file, create a new virtual machine using that hard disk file, rename the virtual computer, and use Windows Update to install IE7. Here are the steps in more detail:
Top Ten Activities to Improve a New Windows 7 System
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Whether you’ve just bought a new PC, upgraded to Windows 7, or reinstalled your OS, a just-installed system is a great opportunity to make some helpful changes and fixes. Here are the things we recommend anyone tackle on a minty fresh Windows.
We’ve previously rounded up the bulk of our Windows 7 advice, from first installation to fine detail tweaking, in our complete guide to Windows 7, as well as packaged our favorite little utilities and customization apps in a list of 10 booster apps. This guide, in contrast, doesn’t include many downloads, and focuses on what one can do to fix up their system from the get-go, no separate app required.
10. Change Up Your Theme
Unlike its predecessors, Windows 7 offers a lot of non-hacker-ish ways in which you can change the entire look of your desktop, not just the wallpaper. We took an early tour of Windows 7’s many free and legit themes, and noted that Microsoft checks in occasionally to provide more themes at its site. If you’d like to keep your wallpaper fresh, but don’t want to hunt down the widescreen-friendly pics yourself, set up
9. Take Advantage of the Better Printer Setups
When Vista came out, it broke a lot of printer compatibility. Now that most manufacturers have had time to update drivers (and users had time to replace old printers), we can get the most from Windows 7’s better printing tools. You can, for example, make your computer change its default printer based on network connections, which can be a real boon to laptop warriors. You can also keep your XP systems connected on your network happily, as Windows 7 and XP can share printers, as explained by the How-To Geek’s own site. (Original post: XP/7 sharing)
Default Windows 7 Tweaks
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Here are some tweaks and general help guides that may be of some use.
How to modify UAC
Start › user accounts › change user account control settings › adjust slider
How to disable Page File (Warning: Do Not Do this unless you have A LOT of memory)
Start › system › Advanced system settings › Performance › Settings › Advance › Virtual memory › Change › No paging file › Set › OK
How to disable Hibernation
Start › cmd › type: powercfg -h off › Enter
How to disable System Restore
Start › System › System protection › Configure
How to turn off Search Indexing
a) Start › services › windows search › disable
b) Start › computer › right click c drive › properties › untick: Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties
c) Start › Indexing options › modify › show all locations › double click users in summary of selected locations › uncheck users directory › double click start menu in the summary of selected locations › uncheck start menu directory › ok
How to turn off Remote Differential Compression
Start › Control panel › programs › turn windows features on or off › uncheck Remote Differential Compression › ok
This makes file transfers (copy, move) faster by turnig off “Remote Differential Compression” (RDC). Copying a 1.91 GB folder from the main HDD to a folder on an external USB drive resulting in …
With RDC turned on: 3:23 – three minutes and 23 seconds (with a stopwatch).
With RDC turned off: 2:25 – two minutes and 25 seconds.
How to turn off unneeded Windows features
Start › programs & features › turn Windows features on or off › uncheck
How to remove the recycle bin
Right click desktop › Personalize › change desktop icons › untick recycle bin
How to disable defragmentation & Superfetch
Start › Computer Management or Services › Disk Defragmentation › disable / Superfetch › disable
How to change title text of Internet Explorer
Start › regedit › HKEY_CURRENT_USER › Software › Microsoft › Internet Explorer › Main
(more…)
Add custom jumplists to any of your programs on Windows 7!
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
With Jumplist Extender, you can:
Add your own Program Tasks
You can add any action you want on your jumplist, provided it has a keyboard shortcut to your program. Make easy-to-access jumplist items for your everyday tasks! (Works with command line switches, too!)
Pin Any Type of File
Add ANY file and ANY folder to your jumplist — and even rename them on the list! Windows only allows you to add files assigned to (or “openable by”) the program — Extender bypasses that limitation.
Create Extensions to your Programs
Use AutoHotKey scripting to extend and add functionality to your programs, easily accessible from your own jumplist! Add a “Save to Desktop Notes” function to Notepad, or add “Snip and upload to ImageShack” to Snipping Tool!
Share your Jumplists with Others
Export and import your jumplists into “Jumplist Packs”! Upload your Jumplist Pack to the web, and enable others to download and enjoy your work!
Download
JumplistExtender_v0.1-C.exe (1.19MB)
How to Turn On Super Administrator Account in Windows 7
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Windows 7 has got a super administrator account which, by default, is disabled. Such account is automatically created when Windows 7 boots up for the first time but, for security reasons, is hidden from view. Let’s see how to turn it on thanks to a simple query in the Command Prompt.
1. Click Start.
2. In the Search field, type CMD.
3. On the list of available programs, right click the Command Prompt icon and click Run as Administrator.
4. In the black window, type: net user administrator /active:yes
5. Press Enter.
6. The system should return you with the following message: The command completed successfully.
7. Now, exit the Command Prompt and click the Start icon.
8. Log off from the current account and in the Account window you should now see the Administrator account.
9. Done!
10. If you want to turn off the Admin account, type: net users administrator /active:no
How to speed up Windows 7
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Is Windows 7 slow? Here’s how to clean out the clutter
There’s a lot to like about Windows 7, not least its many improvements over Vista: the new OS is faster, less demanding on resources, has better designed security and contains many new productivity-boosting features.
If you were an early Windows 7 adopter, though, you may already have noticed that one old problem still remains. The more you use your PC, adding and removing applications, the more junk builds up throughout your system, and the slower and more unstable it eventually becomes.
You need to treat the problem, detoxing your PC on a regular basis to remove the leftovers – but how, exactly? Which areas of Windows 7 are most susceptible to this gradual degradation? Are there any tools or benchmarks you can use to reveal problem areas? How much can all this clutter slow you down, anyway, and what’s the best way to remove it all and restore your system to its optimum performance?
As we researched this article, one point was clear. Windows 7 is very different internally to Windows XP, and we couldn’t simply assume that old tricks, like optimising services, would work in the same way. What we needed to do was design a test, something that would reveal exactly why Windows 7 systems slowed down over time, and help uncover the best way to restore that initial new PC performance. And so that’s exactly what we did.
Designing the test
We started our trial by obtaining a powerful new 3XS Intel X58 Core i7 PC from Scan Computers. The machine featured a quad-core Intel Core i7 920 (which was overclocked by 20 per cent), 6GB of RAM and a speedy SATA 300 Samsung hard drive. It was an excellent performer that we knew wouldn’t choke unless it was faced with a set of major performance problems.
When the 3XS PC arrived, we installed the latest Windows 7 (Ultimate Edition, 32-bit) and driver updates and then set about establishing baseline measurements of our PC’s performance. The best Windows boot time
Is Microsoft using Internet Explorer 9 to force upgrades from XP?
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Internet Explorer 9 will not be supported by Windows XP. Period. Microsoft’s web technical evangelist Giorgio Sardo, speaking at the Web 2.0 Expo, has confirmed this. The reason given is that HTML5 and hardware acceleration require a modern OS.
Note: Interestingly, while XP users won’t be able to benefit from IE9, pirates will, as there will be no validation required.
But is this nothing more than a cunning ploy to make users upgrade the OS?
Let’s consider the evidence.
First, XP has a massive, entrenched following. It’s usage share is at 63.4%, while Vista holds a market share of 15.6% and Windows 7 an impressive 11.7%. Many XP users don’t see the need to upgrade because the OS does for them everything they need it to do. So it is in Microsoft’s best interests to come up with reasons for people to upgrade.
The there are the browser stats. Internet Explorer 6 has a greater market share (17.6%) than Firefox 3.6 (15.3%). Internet Explorer 8 enjoys an usage share of 24.6% while Internet Explorer 7 continues to hold its own with 12.5%.
What about other browser vendors, such as Opera, Mozilla and Google. Are these players abandoning XP? No. Here’s what Google Chrome developer Alex Russell had to say:
Speed up Windows 7
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Microsoft Windows 7
is already a much more responsive operating system than its predecessors, but there are tweaks and changes you can make to speed up Windows 7 even more. By reading this list and implementing some of the suggestions, you can increase performance in a very short period of time. If you have any further suggestions on how to improve the speed of a Windows 7 PC, please let us know in the comments section so that we can keep updating this list.
1. Boost your RAM
Windows 7 is very efficient at using your memory and adding another stick of RAM can give a big performance boost at very little cost. 4GB is plenty for most 64-bit users, and 3GB is a sensible limit for 32-bit users (mainly due to the memory limitations which you can read about here).
If you do more intensive work such as CAD or video editing then added even more than 4GB RAM may be a sensible idea. However it should be noted that simply adding lots of extra memory will not continue to improve overall performance, the bottleneck depends on other components (such as your CPU and hard drive).
2. Switch to SSD
Using a Solid State Drive is going to provide a performance boost in almost all Windows 7 applications, especially when it comes to boot times. SSD’s have no moving parts and therefore are silent and more energy efficient, with the benefit of much faster access times.
The current generation of mechanical hard drives will be obsolete in the coming years, but for the time being SSDs are quite expensive. If you have the money and a high end system to improve upon, this would be an excellent choice.